FourPart Harmony
by BloodyQuills
Summary: A music-based journey into my scattered marbles. Irritatingly mandatory disclaimer: I own none of the lyrics or characters in this fic. Blah blah blah blah blah. Rated M for sexual and drug-related themes. Special Extra Chapter Now Included!
1. Learning to love?

Glitch sat in his chair by the window. It was his favorite chair, as it was comfortable, familiar, and he often recovered memories in it and kindled brilliant ideas as he relaxed.

Today, however, he sat in his chair not to relax, not to unwind, but to think. The topic upon which he mulled over made him grit his teeth.

_If you could only see the way she loves me, then maybe you would understand_

_Why I feel this way about our love, and what I must do._

_If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says..._

He stood up fast and straight, knocking his chair over. It caused a chain reaction and knocked over the small side table that was to its left, and he loosened up somehow at the resulting satisfying shatter of his glass of milk as it hit the floor.

_When she says she loves me..._

He stepped outside onto the balcony, the cold air bracing against his hot, reddened face. He looked over the frozen quarter and concentrated on the horizon. He and DG had taken up residence in the castle long ago. They were giddy, in love, planning their future, but something caught his curious eye. That curious eye he now lamented and occasionally wished plucked out of its socket. Besides, if it was and he was still able to see DG's pretty smile out of the remaining eye, then all was well.

Of the few things he could remember, the last words he heard DG say before she left for Finaqua were utterly tear-drowned and stained his memory significantly.

"You don't just test someone because you think they're stupid! You don't just... trespass on another's matters of the heart.. And you don't stab a sister so flagrantly in the back!"

"Oh... you're one to talk..." Replying in shocked earnest, Azkadelia arched an eyebrow, hands folded calmly in front of her. Soon, though, her front began to crumble and her eyes filled with tears. "I don't think he's stupid... I never did!" She added disappointedly. "He's brilliant... tragically slighted- but never stupid." Without a movement to brush them away, a few tears fell, rolling slowly down her cheek.

"I... I'm going to Finaqua. Have as much of him as you want."

Azkadelia clenched her fists. "You said you'd never run away again." She warned. "And why are you all the sudden so eager to jump the gun?"

"I said I'd never run away on you again. I never said I'd never run away from him." And with that, DG turned and was gone.

It was all a hopeless tease. Whether or not Azkedelia meant well. Every night in DG's absence she would flutter her eyelashes, brush her candy-flavored lips across his cheek and then when he found himself in her arms, she would reprimand him between kisses for ever being there... and she was right to. He would have found it so easy to stop loving her... if that could even be called real love. He would have found it a minimal task to walk away... up until she threw the truth in his lap...

"I've fallen for you... and I need you to make a decision." He mocked her under his breath. Oh, the ultimate pawn. It's what he played best in this seemingly never ending game of torture chess.

Glitch? Make a solid decision? Etched permanently in his heart, the decision had been made all along. Those two letters had always been carved right there. DG.

Glitch shook his head and cleaned up his mess, righting his chair and the little side table. He suckled nervously at his fingertip, catching the blood on his tongue that seeped lightly from a little cut he had gotten cleaning up the glass, and headed toward Azkadelia's chambers.

He stood outside the door in the wide open halls, his head in his hands, trying to piece together the most gentle remedy to what ails him. As gentle as this all could be. How in the _hell_ did this ever happen?? He began to panic a little, thinking on this, and as he tried to dry his panic-damp palms, he heard her door swing open.

_Well you've got your reasons..._

"I couldn't bear not having you after learning to love you so dearly..." She bore a seemingly faux sadness in her eyes

"_Learning_ to love me? How do you figure going into this knowingly having to _learn_ to lo-"

_And you've got your lies..._

"When I had to sit there-" Azkadelia interrupted, "and watch the witch condemn you to pain and- and... and mental darkness, it killed me that there was nothing I could do." A black tear rolled down her cheek and she dabbed it away quickly and coolly, as though it hadn't fallen in the first place.

Glitch was beginning to lose his temper with her icy veneer. He rolled to a slow boil inside, the harsh chemical mixture of deep hurt and remorse melting away the lining of his stomach. He turned his wildly guilty eyes from her and raised an interjective finger, pointing it directly at her. "I-- I..."

_And you've got your manipulations... to cut me down to size..._

"Without me you're a lonely wanderer again. I'm the only one you have, Glitch. You know DG doesn't want any part of this anymore. It's why she left, _remember_?" There seemed to be a hint of sadness again in her eyes, it was more vivid this time and something told Glitch that it was vivid because it was real.

_Sayin' you love but you don't, You'll give your love, but you won't..._

Glitch's eyes threatened to fill and he stood stoically in the hall, still having refused to move a single inch.

"Remember is a _relative_ word," He began, struggling to sound calm. "More recently it has had _**precious little**_ to do with me so I will ask you not to use it in such a insistent fashion."

"What?" She snipped, her eyes wide with contempt. "What did you just say to me?"

_If you could only see the way she loves me, then maybe you would understand_

_Why I feel this way about our love, and what I must do._

_If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says-_

_When she says she loves me.._

"DG never had to _**LEARN**_ to love me! SHE JUST... She just did." He bowed his head and didn't look up again until the doors in front of him softly latched closed.

_Seems the road less traveled... Shows happiness unraveled..._

Glitch turned and walked down the hall. His simple amble turned into a stride and soon he ducked into a stairwell door. The stairs led up to a tower in the castle and at the top of the tower was a small room. He went up the stairs at two or three at a time and finally reached the door when he forgot in its entirety what he meant to do there.

So down the stairs he went. He took no care as he barreled down them as fast as he barreled up them.

_And you got to take a little dirt to keep what you love_

_-Thats what you gotta do..._

His heart shook with fear, but he remained blindly persistent to the task at hand, whatever that was. All he knew was at the end of his journey was DG, and he had a lot to say. He bit down on his lip as he passed over paths and through wooded areas.

The light of day faded out and soon he ran through darkness, his heart feeling like it could burst in his chest. Suddenly, his lights went out due to his foot catching on a root and subsequently his head bouncing off of the tree.

_Sayin' you love but you don't, You'll give your love, but you won't..._

He slept soundly where he lay, despite how it seemed his dreams were frightening and frustrating him. He dreamt of DG. He dreamt of running to her... running to her... and when he finally reached her near proximity and approached her, the arms he tried to hold her with simply floated through her and she would disappear and reappear elsewhere in his periphery.

The process of dreaming was almost like a nightly seizure for our poor, dear Glitch. He twitched and trembled in his sleep, the scene fragmenting itself like shattered glass. It was now as dark inside his mind as it was outside, but bathed in a gentle, subtle glow was a six-foot-tall frame in his direct vicinity. Truthfully, while the glow fascinated him, the frame's look intimidated him and he began to back up little by little, the frame getting closer and closer.

_You're stretchin' your arms to somethin' that's just not there..._

_Sayin' you love where you stand, you give your heart when you can..._

"I wouldn't back up much further, headcase." The frame spoke. Its voice was like molasses dripping from its mouth. Glitch reached down, seeming to know of a nearby source of comfort and his hand grazed something made of metal, adorned by cold, smooth marble. He grabbed for it, instinctively pulled back the tab along the top until it clicked into place and aimed. He squeezed his eyes shut, and though he had seen the glowing frame of a certain princess, and though his mind screamed for him not to be rash, he didn't hear it. He didn't hear it and he pulled the trigger

_If you could only see the way she loves me, then maybe you would understand_

_Why I feel this way about our love, and what I must do._

Glitch sat up, a cry rising from his throat, breaking through the new morning. He looked around, shivering a little and motioned to brush the dew from his dreadlock corkscrew curls but instead lamented silently over the newfound (and really tender) egg that almost got in the way of the you know what. Nothing remained of the dream but the random memory of just how that something made of metal and marble felt in his hand.

He bowed his head despite the splitting ache and turned back toward the frozen quarter, dragging himself to the castle, putting himself once more in the presence of Azkadelia and subjecting himself to further senseless tribulations.

_If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says-_

_When she says she loves me.._


	2. I was human, too

It was time for one of the largest events in the history of the O.Z. Rightfully, Glitch was incredibly nervous, not at all looking forward to it, really. Especially not knowing that _she_ would be there and that meant picking up where they left off.

For the past several weeks he has had time to do nothing more than think. He hadn't worked on his inventions, he'd been working more on avoiding Azkadelia than anything else. He looked at himself in the mirror. Hmph, he thought to himself, I looked less old, less worn when my brain was still in the tower.

Truthfully, Glitch didn't look old. He looked tired and depressed, but youth still kept a bit of color in his cheeks, there was still youth in his face, but to him he looked old. There was nothing to do but age without DG in his arms.

His personal issues were thrown mightily to the side when one morning a few days before the event, the Queen gave him an ultimatum.

" Ambrose, I have a choice to give you. You either do something to get DG back into your life and become productive and lively again, or I will have to have you replaced, and DG moved elsewhere. I love you and I love my daughter with all my heart, but your mindsets are driving me up the royal wall. And both so blasted stubborn..."

There was indeed more to it, but nothing of further consequense, rather the Queen was blowing off some steam and Ambrose listened loyally. Glitch however bounced around inside his own head, freaking out, trying to figure out what he could possibly do...

It was the night of the dance so suddenly. The days crept up on him silently and stealthfully, and soon he stared down his own incredibly nicely dressed frame in the mirror. He chewed his lower lip in thought as he looked himself over for the millionth time. He thought he looked funny, but according to the... fashion adviser... that the Queen had assigned him, this was the look that DG would respond to as it would be greatly familiar. He wore black shoes with a shine so high it seems the sun was trapped in the patent leather. He wore black pressed slacks, a white button-down shirt, some odd thing they called a cumberbund- which was also black. His ensemble was finished off by a smart black bow-tie and a formal jacket.

From behind, Ahamo looked in at Glitch. "Wow... you clean up very nicely, Ambrose."

Glitch jumped a little and turned. "What is it they call this peculiar thing again?"

"I believe it is called a tuxedo."

Glitch nodded. "So... when do I go on tonight?" Even just thinking about it his face flushed out and a light sweat beaded along his zipper. He didn't like that at all. "And secondly- do I have to?"

Ahamo chuckled a little. "You go on at 10pm- and yes, you have to. Especially if you really want things to settle down. Now look, I've brought you something." Ahamo dug into his pocket and then reached for the cuff of Glitch's formal jacket. He attatched something to it and then did the same little thing with the other.

"What's this?" Glitch marvelled as he looked over the emerald cufflinks that now adorned his jacket brilliantly.

"This... this is a little help from a dear friend."

Glitch sat in the back, able somehow to feel DG's presence as it met with the dance hall. He studied his music, worked dilligently at warming up his voice and looked at the clock every five minutes, knowing that time was flying by, hoping that time would s-l-o-w d-o-w-n.

9:50 pm...

9:55 pm...

Glitch stood on stage. His heart beat so hard in his chest and he took one last glance at the music, dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief before he heard the royal trumpets blare their attention-getting notes in order to corral all of the ballroom dancers for an announcement.

"In honour," The Queen began, "of DG's birthday, of her return to our beloved O.Z., of Azkadelia's being freed from the witch and all of us being freed from the darkness, someone very special has decided to take things in a slightly different direction this evening with some music from the other side." The Queen smiled prettily at the small gasps and the chitter chatter between excited guests. "I will ask that you now turn your attention to centre stage." She motioned with a graceful arm toward the stage, DG standing in the very middle of the dance floor looking as though she had come straight from a story book, steadied her eyes on the stage, her necklace and earrings glowing beyond her notice.

Before the curtain opened, a simple drum beat began to pulse through the hall accompained by a steady piano note.

Soon a charming twinkling sound and an odd synthesized whine started off the beginning of the song.

"Come on baby, dry your eyes. Wipe your tears. I've never liked to see you cry... Won't you please forgive me?" The curtain opened, revealing Glitch to the entire crowd. A gasp broke out in the hall and excited mumblings as well, but none louder than the singing that had mezmerized everyone.

"I wouldn't ever try to hurt you. I just needed someone to love me- to fill the void while you were gone- to fill the space of emptiness. I'm only human, of flesh and blood, a man." He gripped the microphone stand and closed his eyes. "Human, born to make mistakes."

"So many nights I've longed to hold you. So many times I looked and saw your face. Nothing could change the way I feel. No one else could ever take your place. I'm only human- of flesh and blood- a man. Human... born to make mistakes."

In the background, other singers accompanied in spots.

"Please forgive me..." He spoke gently into the mic.

He stopped cold, the music continuing as from somewhere else in the hall, DG's voice came over the speakers. "The tears I cry aren't tears of pain... they're only to hide my guilt and shame. I'll forgive you, and now I ask the same of you. While we were apart, I was human, too."

It felt almost as though Glitch's heart had stopped dead in his chest, but like any good performer, the show went on with another chorus. He stayed for a moment as the dancers lavished him in applause, but then he stepped backstage and into his dressing room, closing the door behind him. He leaned up against the door and slid down it into a sitting position, putting his head in his hands.

He didn't know- couldn't see that DG sat on the couch in the room, looking at him as he cried into his palms...


	3. So this is it?

"Please... Don't..." DG began softly. "It's breaking my heart..."

Glitch jumped and dropped his hands from his face, thoroughly embarrassed at his flagrant show of pain. "DG-" He couldn't pull any color into his flushed out pallor. While he tried to think of what to say, he listened to the music floating in from the hall.

"Look- let's forget about all of this for now and go have a good time." DG suggested.

"Right, forget. Just pick something you assume I'm good at because I do it all the time!" He snipped, then scrubbed his face with his hands and sighed. "I- I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

"You're right. You _are_ sorry. But..." DG's lips began to redden and fill, an onslaught of her own tears trudging toward the ducts, but she fought them. "I just wanna dance with you." Her chin trembled a little and she stood up, frustrated. "I'll be out there if you make up your mind." He moved out of her way and let her get to the door to leave.

Glitch watched her leave the room. He closed his eyes as soon as he heard the door latch and let his mind replay it for him. An odd form of self-abuse, to be sure. He truly wanted to dance with her... but what if it was all for naught? What if he got up, straightened his "tuxedo", put on a strong face and went out there to find that all she wanted was a dance? Ever again?

His head could forget it, most likely, but it would ulimately singe itself into his heart. A lump sat squarely in his throat. Soon he stood, very soon in fact, and swallowed hard, trying to push away his pride. He took a breath or two, straightened his tuxedo, put on a strong face and went out to the dance hall.

He walked in long, confident strides much like Ambrose would. His sites were set on DG who stood in the middle of the dance floor. He couldn't help giving her at least a once over (or two). There was just something about a blue dress.

_I know it's hard to tell how mixed up you feel_

_Hoping what you need is behind every door_

_Each time you get hurt, I don't want you to change_

_Because everyone has hopes, you're human after all_

He stepped into her presence, overwhelmed for a moment when both his cufflinks and her earrings and necklace began to glow. His entire body tingled as he offered her his arm. She took it, stepped forward, and put her own arms around his neck, closing her eyes when his arms wrapped around her waist. They took no notice of how everyone else danced. The emeralds demanded their close proximity. Energy created a dome around the both of them that they could only feel and that nobody could see with the naked eye.

_The feeling sometimes, wishing you were someone else_

_Feeling as though you never belong_

_This feeling is not sadness, this feeling is not joy_

_I truly understand. Please, don't cry now_

As the song played through the first verse, DG got even closer to Glitch, setting her head against his shoulder, her face tipped upward, her lips nearly grazing his earlobe. "Where do we go from here?" She whispered to him.

"Hm?" He replied, distracted by the feel of her breath against his neck. "Where do you want to go from here?" His heart almost shuddered with fear at the thought of the reply.

_Please don't go, I want you to stay_

_I'm begging you please, please don't leave here_

_I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel_

_The world is just illusion trying to change you_

Through his mind as he waited patiently for her answer, he thought of her... he thought of their mutual friends. He thought of everything they had been through and how he had let curiosity shake their love loose from its firm foundation. The murderer of the innocense of everything they had known together was on trial right now... and the consequense of solitude was very real.

_Being like you are_

_Well this is something else, who would comprehend?_

_But some they do, lay claim that_

_Divine purpose blesses them_

_That's not what i believe. It doesn't matter anyway._

DG took her hair down from its loose french twist and let it fall over her shoulders.

Glitch was suddenly energetically awakened by the lovely, floral scent of her hair. He let the moment take him and he began to dance freely with her, letting the odd, soothing sounds free his feet from their spot where they had been nearly frozen to the floor but for a shuffle. DG's chin trembled. "You never told me..." She marveled almost tearfully at this beautiful new facet of him. Her heart swelled almost painfully and she clung to him as they moved together to the song.

"DG-" He whispered to her as they continued to move. "I can't imagine life..."

DG shook her head. "I'm sorry." The tears now fully dripped down her face and she held him so close. So close, in fact, that they could feel each other's hearts pounding against one another.

Glitch took a few hard, ragged breaths. "So... this is it?"

_A part of your soul ties you to the next world_

_Or maybe to the last, I'm still not sure_

_What i do know is, to us the world is different_

_As we are to the world but, i guess you would know that_

DG fervently shook her head again, locking into an emotional, warm, thunderous kiss. "Don't ever hurt me again." She whispered as she pulled away from the kiss. They both shook against each other, the emeralds drawing their wounded souls toward each other, healing them both, fusing them as one.

_Please don't go, I want you to stay_

_I'm begging you please, please don't leave here_

_I don't want you to change for all the hurt that you feel_

_The world is just illusion always trying to change you..._


	4. I have seen you, in the white wave

They danced until the party was over... it wasn't enough.

"Wanna go somewhere else?" DG whispered in Glitch's ear.

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Where else would we go?"

DG bit her lower lip. "We'd need to change our clothes first, but I know just the place."

A little voice chimed in sadly, almost as though afraid to interject: "Can I go, too? I'm not ready for this night to be over either." Az stood humbly before them, her hands folded daintily in front of her, her eyes filled with remorse. "I'm sorry... I'm actually happy to see you two like this. I promise I won't be a pest, I just want to go and be someone other than me for the rest of the night."

DG looked dubious. "Az- Of course I forgive you, and I wouldn't think you'd be a pest, but would you really want to go where I'm taking us?"

"Please? I'll even lend you something to wear... I have some things perfect for a night outside of the castle..."

DG looked into Glitch's eyes. Glitch was a bit nervous... he was always a bit nervous, but because she seemed to need to get out of there as badly as they did, he nodded.

"Okay." DG agreed. Her sister thanked her humbly and left to go and look through her things for something to wear for herself.

"W-What about me? I don't know if I have anything appropriate... and I certainly can't go off castle grounds wearing _these_ clothes." Glitch added.

Before she was entirely out of the room, Az turned to him and smiled, giving him a mental once-over. "I'll help dress you, too. No worries." With not so much more, she left for her quarters, Glitch standing there entirely unsure as to whether or not that was a good thing.

She took him by the arm and snuck out of the ballroom with him. "C'mon, let's get gone while the getting's good."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Glitch asked curiously, feeling smug on the inside about their little escape.

"We're going where everyone else here goes to party..."

"Central city?"

"Nope. The realm of the unwanted."

Glitch gasped and was shushed in small time after that. "DG do you have any _clue_ what they do to people like us down there? You couldn't possibly have forgotten last time..." He waited wild-eyed for an answer, and dug his feet in, stopping them both when she didn't reply. "Well?!"

DG looked at him, somewhat amused. "Oh please. What are they going to do to two princesses and the Queen's advisor? If anything they might just be so afraid of Az still that they won't even talk to us. They may just dance around us and let us have our good time. Ever think of that?"

His brow furrowed at that thought, but his mind eventually cleared from worry, so DG must have been right. He smiled and even started to chuckle. "C'mon. Let's go before we're caught."

DG grinned back at him and started running again until they were safe in a random guest room. If Az needed them, she decided, Az would be able to find them. Easily. DG closed the door behind them and locked it and barricaded the knobs with a nearby parloud chair. She stood across from Glitch, staring him down like he was about to become her prey. She spanned the room quickly and bombarded his lips with kisses. Some of them stung, but he liked it and he reciprocated very eagerly. While they fervently pawed, Glitch pulled his tie off, took his shoes and socks off, and DG bit his buttons off. All of them.

She nibbled at his earlobes and cleared his collar from her wake, working down his neck and clavicle, then traveling down the sternum, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile with every movement and mewl he made. She made it very clear to him what they were going to do and he went along with every meticulous step.

Many of which were torturous and so wonderful...

"Watch the Zipp- ngh...nev- nevermind..."

**XxXxX**

For hours Az went through her massive (eclectic) wardrobe and picked and chose and combined and subtracted. She paired and singled out, and some she threw out all together. Finally, she came to a solid decision on what she and the other two would wear on their upcoming venture into the dark. She grinned especially devilishly at what she chose for Glitch to wear. She couldn't touch him anymore, but nobody said she couldn't stare at him.

She set the outfits carefully to the side and turned on some light music. She closed off the doors to her quarters but left the bathroom door open as she drew a cool bath. It was, you see, the secret to the cream in her complexion. She set out her make-up at the vanity mirror, disrobed, and gave herself a quick once over like any woman would. She even smiled at certain preferred areas, noting their fresh loveliness despite all her body had been through.

She took a quick bath and got out, draining the tub and wrapping up with a towel. She sat down at her vanity, deciding what brushes and what colors to use for tonight. Before she applied her make up she put her hair in a cute, unruly updo with little chutes of hair sticking up in various different colors and places.

She applied some dramatic eyeliner with some barely there eye-shadow and blush. She applied a modest bit of red lip-stain and covered it over with a smudging of clear gloss...

**XxXxX**

Glitch and DG were in the middle of something insanely profound. I'm sure it sounds cheesy at first to think of sex as at all profound, but this was. They stared endlessly into each other's eyes, the gaze unbroken by not one single thing, but deepened by almost every move each of them made.

Glitch had become more familiar to himself again, not foreshadowed by Ambrose, not embarrassed by Glitch, just... wrapped up in himself. The sensations of everything good around him overwhelmed his synapses _and_ their responses, almost made him want to panic and flee,but something in DG kept him right there.

He thought her sounds were going to shatter glass but as opposed to shying him away from her, he became more empassioned, stronger in his endeavour toward her pleasure and oh did he ever get her what she always wanted. After all, he got his, too...

**XxXxX**

Az looked at the clock as she slid her shoelace through the last eyelet at the very top of her knee-high black leather boot. She bit her lower lip and tied a good solid knot. It was time for the lovebirds to get dressed. She strode toward Glitch's quarters and passed them. Same with DG's. She passed several different rooms when she caught the sound of the shower in one of the rooms going. She nodded, magically removed the barricade that she could see between the slight split in the doors and stepped in, recognizing DG's clothes right away. She set their dirty clothes to the side, taking care not to rumple DG's dress or Glitch's tux.

She left a note for them to put on the clothes when they got out of the shower and went off looking for a few last things. She tugged at the strap of her top, adjusting its length so that it could feel free to slip off of her shoulder when she danced and make her look hot. She wore a skirt that grazed the floor when she walked. It was made of latex at the top 1/4th of the skirt, tight fitting in the bum and around the hips, but there were slits from the upper middle hip to the floor. That part of the skirt simple cotton poly blend, it moved nicely, giving the other dancers a sweet glimpse at her long, creamy legs.

She strode confidently back with her make up case, having shined up her metal-adorned cyber trooper style boots, the lights catching on them and radiating off of the little metal pieces along the sole.

By the time Az had returned, both Glitch and DG had gotten out of the shower and discovered their wardrobe choices. DG squealed, looking over her own outfit, and almost had to shower again seeing Glitch's chosen wardrobe for the night. Had Az not been in the room it would have caused another session and they just didn't have time for more at the moment.

"Well?" Az spoke up. "Don't judge the look of the clothes based upon how they lay on the bed. Put them on and let me see." Her crisp tongue was some of the time witty and comforting and at the same time like a whipcrack.

DG and Glitch grabbed up their respective outfits and one went back into the bathroom to put it on while the other utilized the walk-in closet. Glitch walked out of the closet after a moment of thumping around and swearing. Seems part of his top got caught in his pull-tab.

Ow.

Az's jaw hit the floor as her eyes met with contours that his own clothes had never told of before. The snug, tight-knit fishnet shirt showed off the handsome, subtle ripples in his back and sides. She paired with the top a studded PVC d-ring collar that went with the little star patch now in the middle of Glitch's chest.

He wore a pair of black bondage pants. The first detailing to catch the eye were the buckles that ran from just above the kneecap and down on both legs. Behind that was lacing to keep the pants snug that went from the groin down to the ankle on the front of both legs. She finished it off with boots that looked a little like hers but without all the metal detailing on them.

DG came out of the bathroom and stood in the doorway, amazed, cursing the fact that her sister was still in the room. "Glitch, turn around for me..." She bemused.

Glitch wasn't moving an inch. No, he was looking at DG's contours now. The roundness of her hips already so smooth and inviting  
were now encased in soft, shiny black PVC. She had shined it up with some scented body oil Az had given her for that purpose. There were buckles to match on her tight fitting, long sleeved red secretary shirt, and she shined those up, too.

"He can do that on the dance floor later. C'mere-" Az called to Glitch as she pulled a chair away from the little breakfast table in the room and set it to face another. She opened up her make-up case, "And have a seat."

"If you want I can go and get my own cosmetics." Glitch offered, still staring stupidly as DG walked across the room in knee highed platform boots that had as just as many buckles as his pants did. Her ass... phenomenal. At the words 'my own cosmetics' however, she stopped cold and turned around to look at him.

"Y-your own?" Both DG and Az stammered.

"Oh please." Glitch rolled his eyes and sat down. "Like a grown man in this day and age can't wear a litle eyeliner once in a while."

Az grinned. "That's okay, I've got you this time around, but you'll have to show me what you have."

"I'm lucky I have anything after the witch's cronies almost found it." He remarked and leaned forward. "Now what are you gonna do first?"

**XxXxX**

The three made their way to the realm of the unknown arm in arm, Az, Glitch and DG dressed to the freakish nines. They found the portal and went inside. DG and Glitch found to their surprise that not only did they not find trouble, it seemed that they were normal... at least they were dressed up as normal. Ozma only knows what could happen in their regular clothing.

Az sifted through her pockets and made sure she had enough coppers, silvers, golds, and platinums and as a show of gratitude for allowing her to come out, she paid entry for all three into the club she let DG choose to take them to. They were obviously sisters, as DG had stumbled upon a place that Az knew well. Once they were inside, the music became odd, rhythmic, animal almost. "The bar's over there," She pointed to her left to a giant bar with almost anything they wanted to drink behind it. "The coat check's over there." She pointed to the opposite side of the establishment.

She tried to think on it and couldn't remember anything else until she walked away. With her back turned, she added: "And the bathrooms are over there." She raised her hand and pointed straight ahead to where a dim light led down a hall to the separate facilities. She headed down that hall but did not go into a bathroom. Instead she went to a back room that looked similar to the bar in the front.

"Hey Az! I was hoping to see you again this weekend." The person behind the bar smiled a little at her. "The usual?" He asked. It seemed he was sweet on her, but it could have been the beverage.

"Make it a double, Sarel." She sighed. She paid him the amount plus a few coppers for his smile. He handed her two glowing red phials and tucked one of them into her cleavage, taking back half of the other and stuffing that into her pocket after putting the cork back in it. Her smile bloomed just as easily as her pupils suddenly dilated. "Thanks."

She ventured back into the main room and found her spot by one of the speakers, dancing as the next mix began.

_Give... me... release_

_Witness me,_

_I am outside_

_Give me peace_

_Heaven holds a sense of wonder_

_And I wanted to... believe that_

_I'd get caught up,_

_When the rage in me subsides_

DG and Glitch watched her for a bit, surprised at each individual that passed her by, hugged her, kissed her and was generally pleased by her presence at this establishment. They looked at each other and found some sort of solace. "No wonder she wanted to join us." DG said in Glitch's ear. The music was loud enough that to communicate took just that. Glitch nodded.

_Passion, choke the flower..._

_'til she... cries no more_

_Possessing all... the beauty_

_Hungry still, for more_

_Heaven holds a sense of wonder..._

_And I wanted to... believe that_

_I'd get caught up_

_When the rage in me, subsides_

_In this white wave,_

_I am sinking..._

_In this silence..._

_In this white wave,_

_In this silence,_

_I believe..._

Az was dancing hard. She was grinding, spinning, twisting her hips and in all other ways filtering out the cruelty of the rest of the frightened, unknowing world, and she looked like a rare black jewel twinkling in the sun. Her expression was one of bliss and her body seemed to follow suit in that expression with fluid, catching movements.

_I can't... help this longing_

_Comfort... me._

_I... can't... hold it all in..._

_If... you... won't let me_

_Heaven holds a sense of wonder..._

_And I wanted to... believe that_

_I'd get caught up,_

_When the rage in me subsides_

_In this white wave,_

_I am sinking,_

_In this silence..._

_In this white wave,_

_In this silence_

_I believe..._

Glitch soon began to react to the music. It was causing synapses to fire that he would never be sure he had used before. Even without Az's magic phials... that he noticed a lot of people had around there... he was moving fluidly, finding that each snapping, popping, thumping rhythm was driving his body into movement. He didn't notice, once deeply into the rhythm, that Az was watching him as she danced from her little corner... longingly.

_I have seen you,_

_In this white wave,_

_You are silent_

_You are breathin'..._

_In this white wave_

_I am free..._

This was not ballroom dancing by far. He focused for a moment on someone spinning, writhing, twisting, gyrating in the middle of the floor and he began to emulate that. DG watched him dance. She was shy on the floor, but loved the atmosphere. Soon she meandered over to the bar to get

something to drink.

"What's all that red stuff people have?" She asked the bartender.

The bartender smiled. "New here?"

**XxXxX**

Glitch got nearer and nearer to Az and before too long they stood talking and dancing together. It was totally innocent and DG could see that across the room from the bar. He leaned in to ask her a question: "What is that red phial for?"

Az smiled so easily, he noticed. It was never that easy before. She leaned back in, slipping the full phial into his hand. "Half for DG and half for you..." Her eyes drifted closed and she began to dance again, one of her friends...

She had _friends_...

Came up to her and they began to dance nearby each other, holding hands as they did so.

It was like she was at home.

"What is it?" He insisted. She told her dance partner she'd return on the next set, took Glitch's hand and lead him to a nearby table. She pulled a chair close so he could hear her and she explained.

"The name of the club is called Red Emerald for a reason. It is named after what I just gave you... It's a simple herbal mixture that will make you forget all your worries, all your aches, pains, embarrassment, inhibitions..." She grinned at that, looking over at her friend across the room. "All this and you remain lucid to everyone and everything around you. This isn't the vapors, sweet face. You won't become addicted, and the only side effect is something of a hangover in the morning."

Glitch nodded, still dubious. "How long does it last?"

"Eight hours max." She replied easily. "I drink this almost every other weekend. As you've seen, I'm not fried from it. So gentle even a headcase can take it."

"It's hard to fry evil." He remarked under his breath. "Ha. Ha ha ha. How do I know you aren't out to hurt me or DG bodily? Again?"

Az stood at that. "It's unfortunate that when the witch had half of your brain removed, she subsequently removed all your early memories of me. I was RIGHT THERE like DG was all along. You took care of BOTH of us. That was NOT ME that hurt you, and now the task of realizing this is on your shoulders." She almost seemed as though she could cry, but she fought it. "Be as doubtful of me and as cynical of my intentions now as you want, but leave me out of it while you work it through." She straightened her smile and took the other half of that half-full phial, walking back over to her friend just as the next DJ set began.

Glitch got up and looked closely at the phial. She could have been right, he thought to himself. After all, she _was_ really good with herbs. He stood and stashed the phial on his person, setting out to find DG.

By the time he found her, she had gone over to the coat check and had her top checked, underneath was what seemed a simple, ribbed, tight fitting black wife-beater style tank top. Until a glimpse of the back is caught and one sees that there is open corsetting all the way down the back, tied with a bright red ribbon that ends in a bow just below the small of her back. The bartender had given her a free phial, had explained to her what was in it using almost the exact same cookie-cutter explanation. She had it stuffed in her pocket and decided to first loosen up with a simple drink first.

She turned to Glitch, grinning, the appeal radiating off of her. She put her arms around him and kissed his neck, flicking her tongue out at one of the spikes on his collar. "Hey..." She mouthed to him.

"Hey." He mouthed back. His eyes were filled with stars just by the look of her.

"I've got this little red phial..." He leaned in and whispered. His hot breath on her neck made her bristle up against him.

"I do too... The bartender gave me mine."

Glitch stuck his hand in his pocket, feeling the still-cool liquid slosh about in the phial. "I got mine from Azkadee..."


	5. Red Emerald Special Extra Chapter!

The night had thus far been outstanding. Glitch and DG basked in each other's glow for hours without the use of the Red Emerald everyone had been floating on.

Finally, Glitch removed the phial Az had given him from his pocket.

"So... do we?" He eyed DG.

"I don't really see any trouble with it." DG's reply was gentle. She figured that herbs wouldn't do much to alter how love high she already was and took the phial out of her pocket, opening the lid.

"O-only half, DG..." Glitch warned.

She nodded and tipped the concoction to her lips, taking down half of the phial. Grimacing, she wiped her mouth, sneering at the sheer taste of it. "This tastes absolutely..." Her pupils dilated mid exclamation, a smile dancing across her face, "delightful..."

Admittedly, this made Glitch uncomfortable. He held back a moment and sat to observe as DG went out onto the dance floor. He watched her dance... she was so shy before, and he had _never_ seen her dance like _this_. His eyes were locked on her hips and then the small of her back as she turned around and he spotted the corseting going down her back.

Glitch's pants began to feel tight. Tight enough to make him look down and check for lacing or buckles he had missed before. Nope, though. That was all him. He stood up, drank his half of the phial and sat back down for a moment. "Hmm... doesn't seem to be doing any...thing..."

He sat calmly in his spot for a moment, looking about as a warm feeling spread from the center of his abdomen, throughout his body. He looked at the strands of red and white lights hanging up in the club and each of the little lights had their own spectrum-colored halo.

Earlier, there had been the beginning of a nagging ache and stiffness in his thighs, hips, quads, calves and back. Of course from the earlier workout he enjoyed, but that didn't seem to matter anymore because he couldn't feel it. He felt loose, limber, and suddenly very much like dancing.

He meandered out to the dance floor and closed his eyes, moving like before, but as he danced and writhed in his own little world, he generated an abundance of physical energy and before he knew it, he was surrounded by nearly every attractive body in the club, DG dancing up against him in the middle and Az on the outside circle, feeding off of his profuse output. Her eyes had rolled up toward the ceiling in sheer ecstacy.

Suddenly, bright lights began flashing here and there behind his closed eyes. His (already sparse) thoughts began to fall off track like snow gradually falls off of limbs that are too heavily loaded to bear it all. His mind worked now like an old radio that someone was rolling the dial on back and forth at an alarming pace.

_  
Hang up the chick habit, hang it up daddy or you'll be alone and quick..._

_Hang up the chick habit, hang it up daddy or you'll never get another fix..._

"Wait... how'd I get in here?"

Glitch looked around at his surroundings. What he saw was a dim room, with the promising haze of morning light blocked out by closed blinds. He saw a big bed with lots of rumpled covers on them, perhaps even the shapes of people beneath them. The room smelled of earthy cologne, soft, floral perfume, and familiar pheromones, both male and female.

_  
I don't like the drugs, but the drugs like me..._

_Don't like the drugs, the drugs, the drugs..._

He stood in the doorway and took in everything in the room. This most certainly was not the castle. Not by any means. It was modest, it was sparsely furnished... heh, looked like it belonged to a Tin Man.

But...

Glitch gasped when he saw the fedora and long, brown duster jacket hanging from a coatrack in a corner of the room. That gasp caused the bigger human shape in the bed to lurch upright, his face red with anger.

"Who the hell let you in, Zipper-head?!"

Glitch grimaced and backed up as Cain clambered out of bed, barreling toward him with balled up fists. His chest heaved with fearful breaths as he found himself backed into a corner.

Cain's fist connected and Glitch slid down the wall, holding his mouth in surprise and a wee bit of oncoming pain. He pulled his fingers away and the tips were spattered with blood. He could taste it spreading across his tongue now. "...You made me bleed..." He remarked quietly.

Glitch's low, curious tone made Cain back up a little. Glitch stood slowly, regaining his balance.

"You made me bleed..." He stared at his fingertips and then somehow by memory meandered into the bathroom, looking into the mirror at his split lip and the blood running down his chin. Cain stood in the doorway, looking at DG who was now sitting up, covering herself with the sheet and looking horrified. The sound of the mirror shattering in the bathroom rang through their ears. Cain reeled back and ran toward DG, automatically thinking to protect her.

"YOU MADE ME BLEEEEEED!!" Glitch shrieked. The taste and the smell of the blood opened up something in him... he thought nothing of it, however as he began to berserk, heading toward them. DG was crying now from the humiliation and guilt. As Glitch neared them, twitching once in a while from the sheer concentration of anger surging through his body, she plead for him to stop, beseeching him not to come any closer, but all he saw was lips moving. He could only hear his own heart pounding in his head.

_  
I didn't hear what you were saying._

_I live on raw emotion baby_

_I answer questions never maybe_

_And I'm not kind if you betray me._

_So who the hell are you to say we_

_Never would have made it babe.  
_

_If you needed love_

_Well then ask for love_

_Could have given love_

_Now I'm taking love_

_And it's not my fault_

_Cause you both deserve_

_What is coming now_

_So don't say a word...  
_

Glitch made a bee-line for Cain's gun belt which was also hung up on the aforementioned coat rack. He pulled the gun from the holster, pulling back the hammer with shaky fingers. He twitched, blood continuing to seep slowly from his lip. It left streaks down his neck and a widening stain on his shirt collar.

_  
Wake up call_

_Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed_

_Don't you care about me anymore?_

_Don't you care about me? I don't think so.  
_

He still seethed with breath, the anger still raging and beginning to cause tears. The gun slowly began to lower as his shoulders began to heave in silent sobs. Cain decided that this was his only chance to stop what could happen, and he ran toward Glitch, reaching to take the gun from him...

_  
Six foot tall_

_Came without a warning so I had to shoot him dead_

_He won't come around here anymore_

_Come around here? I don't think so._

BANG! Glitch raised the gun and pulled the trigger. Cain reeled back, clutching at his side. DG screamed, dropping the covers, now not caring if her nudity was slightly displayed. She used the sheet to try and block the wound but it was for naught, and she found this in the form of Cain bleeding to death in the bed.

_  
Would have bled to make you happy_

_You didn't need to treat me that way_

_And now you beat me at my own game_

_And now I find you sleeping soundly_

_And your lovers screaming loudly_

_Hear a sound and hit the ground_

Glitch dropped the gun, pressing his back up against the door jamb.

_  
I'm so sorry darling_

_Did I do the wrong thing?_

_Oh, what was I thinking?_

_Is his heart still beating?_

_  
"Glitch..._Glitch?..."

The bedroom began to fade out of his vision and to his happy delirium he was back in the club, still dancing, but with a bewildered and sometimes frightened look on his face. "Oh... DG...I-"

DG leaned in and whispered. "Ready for your second dose?" She smiled at him.

"Um... I think I'll pass."


End file.
